Vapor recovery fluid loading arm with dripless discharge spout

ABSTRACT

A vapor recovery fluid loading arm especially for transferring gasoline or other volatile fluids from a reservoir thereof to a tank truck, railway tank car, or other receptacle, and recovering the vapors evolved therefrom. The loading arm has a dripless discharge spout that prevents residual fluid from draining out of the spout after the flow control valve in the arm is closed, thereby preventing spillage and corresponding pollution of the atmosphere. Four different embodiments of dripless discharge spouts are described, each of which has a closure element that shuts off the flow of fluid through it in response to a predetermined condition or signal.

act [19] nite Knight 1 Mar. 25, 1975 [541 VAPOR RECOVERY FLUID LOADINGARM WITH DRIPLESS DISCHARGE SlPOUT [52] U.S. Cl ..141/59, 141/198,141/279, 1 141/293, 141/388 [51] int. Cl .8651) 31/00 Field of Search141/279, 284, 387, 388,

[56] References Cited 9 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,479,454 8/1949 Annin251/613 2,726,800 12/1955 Burdin 141/294 2,809,677 10/1957 Hamner 141/592,963,205 12/1960 Beall Jr 141/292 Gowens 141/293 Madden et a1 141/388Primary Examiner-Richard E. Aegerter Assistant Eramirzer-John W.Shepperd Attorney, Agent, or Firm-W. W. Ritt, Jr.; C. E. Tripp [57]ABSTRACT A vapor recovery fluid loading arm especially for transferringgasoline or other volatile fluids from a reservoir thereof to a tanktruck, railway tank car, or other receptacle, and recovering the vaporsevolved therefrom. The loading arm has a dripless discharge spout thatprevents residual fluid from draining out of the spout after the flowcontrol valve in the arm is closed, thereby preventing spillage andcorresponding pollution of the atmosphere. Four different embodiments ofdripless discharge spouts are described, each of which has a closureelement that shuts off the flow of fluid through it in response to apredetermined condition or signal. 1

6 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEUMARZSIHYE SHEET 1 0F 5 Q. d vm $0 9wm F 9. N t

PATENTED 55175 sum 3 or 5 uw milwu PMENTEDHARZSISYS SHEEF k (If 5PATENTED MAR 2 5 975 m m-inhil 1 I VAPOR RECOVERY FLUID LOADING ARM WITHDRIPLESS DISCHARGE SPOUT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The field of art towhich the present invention pertains includes apparatus for transferringfluid between vessels, and more particularly to vapor recovery types offluid loading arms. The relevant areas of the U.S. patent classificationsystem include class 137, subclasses 615 and 616, and class 141,subclasses 206, 290 and 291.

The transfer of volatile fluids such as gasoline between a storagereservoir and a tank truck or railway tank car is invariably accompaniedby the generation of large volumes of vapor. To prevent this vapor fromescaping and polluting the atmosphere, vapor recovery loading arms havebeen devised to capture the vapor while the liquid is being deliveredinto the transport vessel, and then return the vapors back to thestorage reservoir or to another suitable container. These vapor recoveryarms comprise a dual system of articulated pipes terminating in a singledelivery head that is inserted into the hatch of the tank truck orrailway tank car, one of the pipe systems for conducting fluid to thetank and the other system for returning the vapors to the reservoir.Apparatus of this type is described in detail in U.S. Pat. Nos.3,099,297 and 3,176,730.

Although these devices perform satisfactorily, recent concern for thepurity of the environment has resulted in laws governing the amount ofvapors and other pollutants that can be released to the atmosphere. Notonly do the vapors that are lost pollute the air, but any volatileliquid that drains or spills from the loading arm also is a potentialatmospheric pollutant because of eventual volatilization of itscomponents. Therefore, when loading gasoline or other volatile 'liquidinto a tank truck, railway tank car, etc., it is now very important toprevent any liquid from dripping from the delivery head as it iswithdrawn from the tank and returned to its stowed position.

The delivery heads of the vapor recovery loading arms described in theaforementioned U.S. patents provide an excellent means for conductingthe liquid from the arm into the tank truck or railway tank car, and forconducting the evolved vapors into the vapor return line of the arm.However, these delivery heads have no provision for preventing residualliquid that is always present therein from dripping off the head as itis raised out of the tank and returned to its stowed position. In aneffort to avoid this dripping problem, it has been suggested to leavethe delivery head in the hatch for a brief draining period before it isremoved. Although this delay is sometimes effective, it is of no helpwhen the tank is overfilled, or when the delivery head is otherwiseimmersed in the liquid in the tank.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the foregoingproblems by providing a dripless discharge spout to close off the fluidoutlet of the delivery head on a vapor recovery fluid loading arm, thuspreventing fluid from dripping out of the head and subsequentlyvolatilizing into the atmosphere. According to the present invention thefluid conduit portion of the delivery head empties into a dischargespout with a valve closure element that opens in response to apredetermined signal or condition to allow fluid to flow, and thencloses fluid tight in response to another predetermined condition orsignal before the delivery head is raised out of the tank. This valveelement also opens and closes the vapor return passageway through thehead, either directly or in conjunction with other of the elements inthe head, thereby also preventing escape of vapors to the atmosphere.The invention includes loading arms having spouts with an external valveclosure element in the form of an annular sleeve that surrounds thespout and that is caused to slide axially on the spout between closedand open positions as the spout is inserted into and withdrawn from atank hatch, spouts with internal poppet type valves that open and closein response to sliding movement of an annular dome seat surrounding thespout, spouts with internal poppettype valves that open and close inresponse to air pressure that is applied to a pneumatic cylinder, andspouts with fluid control valves coupled to vapor check valves tocontrol flow of both fluid and vapor.

Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide animproved type of vapor recovery fluid loading arm.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new type offluid discharge spout for a vapor recovery fluid loading arm thatprevents escape of fluid and vapor to the atmosphere when the spout isnot positioned in a fluid receptacle.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a means forautomatically closing the exit port in a fluid discharge spout of avapor recovery fluid loading arm when the spout is withdrawn from thetank into which fluid has been delivered.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a driplessdischarge spout for use in conjunction with the delivery head of a vaporrecovery fluid loading arm.

Another object of the present invention is to provide apparatus fortrapping the residual liquid and vapor in a vapor recovery fluid loadingarm and preventing them from escaping to the atmosphere when the arm isnot in its fluid delivering position in a receptacle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a vaporrecovery fluid loading arm with a dripless discharge spout according tothe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken along the line3-3 of FIG. 1, showing the discharge spout in its closed condition andpositioned in a tank hatch.

FIG. 4 is a view like FIG-3, but showing the discharge spout in its fullopen condition.

FIG. 5 is a vertical section view, similar to FIG. 3, of a secondembodiment of dripless discharge spout according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 is a view like FIG. 5, but showing the discharge spout in itsfull open condition.

FIG. 7 is a vertical section view, like FIGS. 3' and 5, of a thirdembodiment of dripless discharge spout according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 8 is a view like FIG. 7, but showing the discharge spout in itsfull open condition.

FIG. 9 is a vertical section view, like FIGS. 3, 5 and 7, of a fourthembodiment of dripless discharge spout according to the presentinvention.

3 FIG. is a view like FIG. 9, but showing the discharge spout in itsfull open condition.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In reference first to FIGS. 1and 2 of the drawings, the numeral 12 designates a vapor recovery fluidloading arm embodying the principles of the present invention. This arm12 compriese an inner boom section 14, an outer boom section 16, and adelivery head assembly 18 to which is connected a dripless dischargespout 20. Much of the arm 12 is substantially the same as the arms ofthe aforementioned Knight US. Pat. Nos. 3,099,297 and 3,176,730, andtherefore these patents are hereby expressly incorporated by referenceinto this description.

The inner boom section 14 of the arm 12 includes a pair of parallelrigid pipes or conduits 22, 24 positioned one above the other in thesame vertical plane. The inner ends of the conduits 22, 24 are connectedto pipe swivel joints 26, 28 for pivotal movement about a commonvertical axis A. In a normal installation of this arm on a gasoline tanktruck loading rack, the lower swivel joint 26 is connected to a fluidriser pipe 32 from which gasoline is delivered from a storage reservoir(not shown) to the conduit 22. In similar manner, the upper swivel joint28 is connected to a vapor riser pipe 34 that conducts vapors from theconduit 24 to a suitable recovery system, to the storage reservoir, orto some other desired location. Riser pipes 32, 34 usually are mountedby means of suitable brackets 36 to a rigid support member 38 at theloading rack.

The outer boom section 16 of the arm 12 comprises a pair of parallelrigid pipes or conduits 40, 42 that are oriented in a side-by-siderelationship in a common, generally horizontal plane. Between, andinterconnecting, the inner and outer boom sections 14, 16 is a fluidcross assembly 44. The outer ends of the inner boom conduits 22, 24 areconnected to the cross assembly 44 by two axially aligned swivel joints46, 48 that are oriented on a common vertical axis B. The inner ends ofthe outer boom conduits 40, 42 are connected to the cross assembly 44 bya pair of swivel joints 50, 52 that are co-axial on the generallyhorizontal axis C. Cross member 44 is constructed to provide separatecommunication between the fluid delivery conduits 22, 40, and betweenthe vapor return conduits 24, 42.

Accordingly, it should be understood that the outer boom section 16 canbe pivoted both horizontally about the axis B and vertically about theaxis C with respect to the inner boom section 14, and that thiscapability along with that of the inner boom section 14 to pivot aboutthe vertical axis A facilitates positioning the delivery head 18 at anylocation within the loading arm s reach.

The delivery head 18 is connected to the outer end of the conduits 40,42 by a pair of swivel joints 54, 56 that are co-axial on a horizontalaxis D. Thus, the pivot axes A, B, C and D enable the delivery head 18to be placed in any location within the operating area or envelope ofthe loading arm 12.

Horizontal movement of the loading arm 12 about the vertical axes A andB is accomplished manually, and vertical movement of the outer boomsection 16 relative to the inner boom section 14 is accomplished bymeans of a pneumatic cylinder 60. As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, cylinder 60is pivotally mounted on a pair of brackets 62, 64 that are fixed to theconduits 40,42, respectively. The cylinders piston rod 66 is pivotallyconnected at 68 to a bracket 70 that is fixed to the cross assembly 44.Thus, as the cylinder 60 is actuated to extend the piston rod 66 theouter boom section 16 is elevated about the axis C, and as the pistonrod 66 is withdrawn into the cylinder 60 the outer boom section 16pivots downwardly about the axis C.

The cylinder 60 is powered by high pressure air that is conducted from asource thereof by an air line 72 fastened for support to the inner boomsections vapor return conduit 24, and then by a rigid air line 74 tomultiposition, manually operated air control valve 76 pivotally mountedon an upstanding bracket 77 that is rigidly secured to the delivery headassembly 18. The air lines 72, 74 are interconnected by a flexible airline 78, and the inner end of the air line 74 is pivotally connected at79 to the fluid cross assembly 44. Thus the air line 74 and the outerboom section 16 comprise opposite sides of a pantograph system thatmaintains the delivery head assembly 18 in a vertical or otherpreselected attitude as the outer boom section 16 is pivoted upwardlyand downwardly about the axis C.

The air control valve 76 is connected to opposite ends of the cylinder60 by air lines 80, 82, thereby providing a means to actuate thecylinder for raising or lowering the outer boom section 16 as desired.

A fluid delivery control valve 84 is incorporated in the outer boomsections fluid delivery conduit 40 to control the flow of fluid throughthe loading arm 12 to the delivery head assembly 18. This valve 84preferably is of the type described in Bloomquist US. Pat. No.3,206,158, the subject matter of which is expressly incorporated herein.The control valve 84 is connected by an air line 86 to a contact valveassembly 88 that is mounted on the side of the delivery head assembly18, and an air line 90 connects the contact valve assembly 88 to themanually operated air control valve 76. -As fully described in theaforementioned Bloomquist patent, the fluid delivery valve 84 opens whenair under pressure is admitted to it through line 86, and when that airpressure is cut off the valve 84 automatically closes. The contact valveassembly 88 which can be of the type described in the aforementionedKnight US. Pat. No. 3,099,297, functions to prevent inadvertent openingof the fluid delivery control valve 84 unless the delivery head assembly18 is properly positioned in the hatch of a tank truck, railway tankcar, etc., thereby avoiding spills of fluid. Various other systems forcontrolling the operations of the fluid delivery valve 84 and thecylinder 60, such as those described in the aforementioned Knight US.Pat. No. 3,176,730 and in G. W. Bloomquists pending US. patentapplication Ser. No. 282,809, filed Aug. 22, 1972, now US. Pat. No.3,825,045, issued July 23, 1974, can be utilized with this loading arm12 depending upon the desires of the user.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate on an enlarged scale the details of thedripless discharge spout 20 and the lower portion of the fluid deliveryhead assembly 18 to which it is attached. As seen in these figures, thedelivery head assembly 18 comprises a tubular housing 92 that terminatesin a radial annular flange 94 that provides a means for connecting to itthe dripless discharge spout 20. An inner wall 96 separates the housing92 into two passageways 98, 100. The passageway 98 is in communicationwith the outer boom sectons fluid delivery conduit 40 through the valve84, and thus functions to conduct fluid through the head assembly intothe dripless discharge spout 20. The passageway 100 is in communicationwith the outer boom sections vapor return conduit 42, and thus functionsto conduct vapors coming from the tank T through the discharge spoutinto the vapor return conduit 42.

The dripless discharge spout 20 comprises a body 102 with a tubularupper portion 103 having a radial annular flange 104 for connecting thespout 20 to the flange 94 of the delivery head assembly 18. An innersuitably curved wall 106 separates the body 102 into a fluiddelivery'passageway 108 that forms a continuation of the delivery headspassageway 98, and a vapor return passageway 110 that communicates withthe delivery heads vapor return passageway 100 through a port 112. Avapor check valve 114, comprising a piston-type closure member 116enclosed in a valve housing 118 and biased to a closed position (FIG. 3)by an adjustable spring 120, is mounted on the spouts upper portion 103over the port 112. The check valve housing 118 has a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced ports 122, so that when the valve member 116 isopen (FIG. 4) the vapors in the vapor return passageway 110 pass throughthe port 112 and the ports 122 into the head assemblys vapor returnpassageway 100.

The inner wall 106 of the dripless discharge spouts body 102 extendsdownwardly to a circular lower end portion 124 having a conical-shapedouter surface 126. The annular periphery of the end element 124 isgrooved at 128 to retain an annular O-ring or other suitable sealelement 130. The end portion 124 is spaced from the lower annular end132 of the spouts upper portion 103 an amount adequate to provide smoothdischarge of fluid from the passageway 108 into the tank T, and toprovide adequate inlet area for vapors from the tank T into thepassageway 110.

The dripless discharge spout 20 further includes an annular dome seat134 concentrically and slidably disposed about the upper portion 103 ofthe spouts body 102. Surrounding the dome seat 134 is an outer annulartank seal 136 of rubber or other suitable resilient material thatestablishes a vapor tight seal with the rim R-of the tanks hatch H. Thelower portion 138 of the dome seat 134 extends downwardly and inwardlyfrom the seats cylindrical upper portion 140, and then terminates in alower end 142 with a conical surface 144. This conical surface 144,which as a taper of about 5, wedges against the O-ring 130 when the domeseat is in its lower or closed position (FIG. 3). This establishes afluid-tight seal with the spouts lower end portion 124 and closes offthe passageways 108, 110, thereby preventing escape of fluid or vaporsfrom within the spout to the atmosphere. The dome seat 134 normally isin this lower, closed position when the spout is outside of the hatch H,and also when it is in the hatch as shown in FIG. 3, but not yet fullyseated as shown in FIG. 4.

When the spout 20 is fully seated (FIG. 4), its body 102 has moveddownwardlywithin the dome seat 134 until the radial flange 104 has cometo rest on the upper surface 146 of the seats upper portion 140. In thiscondition an annular. opening, separated by the wall 106 into a fluidoutlet port 148, and a vapor inlet port 150, exists between the seatslower end 142 and the bodys lower end portion 124. Also, in this open"position, the seat 134 is sealed to the body 102 by an O-ring or othersuitable annular seal 152, so that no fluid or vapor can escape to theatomsphere. As the level of the fluid in the tank T approaches full, thefluid will enter the vapor inlet 150 and cause the float 154 to rise,actuating the contact valve 88 to cause the fluid delivery valve 84 toclose, all as is described in detail in the aforementioned Knight US.Pat. No. 3,099,297.

THE EMBODIMENT OF FIGS. 5 AND 6 The dripless discharge spout 200illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 constitutes another embodiment of thepresent invention. This spout 200 comprises a tubular body 202 having anupper portion 204 with an annular radial flange 206 for connecting it tothe flange 94 of the delivery head assembly 18, and a lower portion 208that gradually curves inwardly to terminate in an inward sloping endsection 210. A curved inner wall 212 divides the body 202 into a fluidpassageway 214 that communicates with the fluid passageway 98 of thehead assembly 18, and a vapor return passageway 216 that communicatesthrough the check valve 114 with the head assemblys vapor returnpassageway 100.

A poppet-type valve 218, comprising a valve disc 220 on a valve stem222, is slidably supported in the spouts body 202 by a guide element 224through which the stem extends, and a transverse rod 226 that extendsthrough diametrically opposed vertical slots 228 (only one shown) in theside of the spouts body 202 and to which the stem 222 is attached bymeans of a junction block 230. The outer ends of the rod 226 are securedin an annular dome seat 232 that is slidably disposed about the spoutsbody 202, and that has an annular tank seal 234 of rubber or othersuitable resilient material surrounding its outer periphery.

The spout body 202 has a vapor inlet window 236 in its side that islocated to be closed [by the dome seat 232 when the seat is in its lowerposition, shown in FIG. 5, and to be open when the dome seat is in itsupper position, i.e., when the spout 200 is fully seated in a hatch H ofa tank T, as seen in FIG. 6.

An annular resilient seal 238, residing in a groove 240 in the outersurface of the spout body 202, effects a fluid-tight seal between thebody 202, and the dome seat 232 when the seat is in its lower position(FIG. 5), and also prevents the seat from sliding off the body. Anotherannular seal 242, residing in a groove 244 in the inner surface of thedome seat, seals the seat fluidtightly at its upper end to the spoutbody 202.

When the dome seat 232 is in its normal lower position (FIG. 5) thepoppet valve 2.18 is closed, a fluidtight seal between its disc 220 andthe spouts lower end 210 being provided by an annular resilient seal 246that is secured to the disc 220. A coil spring 248 surrounding the valvestem 222 biases the valve towards its closed position, thereby aidingthe dome seat in holding the valve disc 220 tightly against the spoutslower end 210.

As the spout 200 is lowered into its fully seated position, the spoutbody 202 moves downwardly away from the valve disc 220, opening thelower end of the spout to allow fluid flow into the tank T. At the sametime, the vapor inlet window 236 is opened, permitting vapor to passfrom the tank through it and on upwardly through the check valve 114into the vapor return conduits of the loading arm. Of course, when thefluidlevel in the tank reaches the float 250, the float rises andactuates the contact valve 88, causing the fluid delivery valve 84 toclose, all in the previously described manner.

THE EMBODIMENT OF FIGS. 7 AND 8 FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate one embodimentof the present invention wherein a pneumatically powered poppet-typevalve is employed to open and close the fluid outlet in the driplessdischarge spout. In the embodiment the discharge spout 300 comprises atubular body 302 having an annular radial flange 304 at its upper endfor connecting it to the head assemblys flange 94, and a central fluidoutlet 306 at its lower end 308. The body 302 has an inner wall 310 thatdivides it into a fluid passageway 312 and a vapor passageway 314. Thebody 302 has a vapor window 316 for inletting vapor from the tank T tothe vapor passageway 314 when the dome seat 318 in its upper position(FIG. 8).

The inner wall 310 has a tranverse lower portion 320 that provides amounting for a double-acting pneumatic cylinder 322. The cylinderspiston rod 324 extends through the lower wall portion 320 and is securedat its lower end to a poppet-valve disc 326. Thus, as the cylinder isactuated by means of compressed air though air lines 328 or 330 thevalve disc is caused to move down or up, respectively, to close or openthe spouts fluid outlet 306. The valve disc has an annular groove 332 inits periphery to retain an O-ring of rubber, or other suitable seal, toprovide a fluid-tight closure of the fluid outlet 306 and prevent theescape of droplets, etc., of volatile product being transferred throughthe arm 12.

The cylinder 322 can be connected into a suitable air line circuit sothat it operates in several manners, including one in which it isresponsive to a contact switch diagrammatically illustrated at 336. Thisswitch causes compressed air to be inletted to the cylinder 322 throughthe air line 330 when the dome seat is in its upper position (FIG. 8)wherein it has pushed the switch shaft 338 upwardly. When the spout 300is raised, the dome seat falls away from the switch, letting the shaft338 drop and causing the compressed air to course instead through airline 328, thereby closing the valve disc 326.

Because of the possibility of the liquid level rising higher in the tankthan the level of the spouts fluid outlet 306, thereby creating a vacuumin the fluid passageways when the spout is being lifted out of thehatch, a port with a check-type relief valve can be provided in thelower area of the vertical portion of the inner wall 310 if desired.Also, a port or ports with suitable check valves can be provided in theupper area of this vertical wall 310 to help equalize the fluid pressurein the head assembly when the fluid passageways are full and the poppetvalve is closed.

In this embodiment, as well as that of FIGS. 3 and 4, and of FIGS. and6, an upper annular seal 340 in a groove 342 in the inner surface of thedome seat 318 cooperates with a lower annular seal 344 in a groove 346in the outer surface of the spouts body 302 to effectively seal thewindow fluid-tight when the dome seat is in its lower position shown inFIG. 7. These upper seals also effectively wipe any fluid from the outersurface of the spout body as the dome seat drops into this lowerposition.

THE EMBODIMENT OF FIGS. 9 AND 10 The embodiment of the inventionillustrated in FIGS.

9 and 10 is practically identical to that of FIGS. 7 and 8, except for adifferent check valve in the vapor return passageway. Hence, where theelements are identical, they have been designated with the same numbersas in FIGS. 7 and 8.

In the FIG. 9 and 10 embodiment, a double-acting pneumatic cylinder 400is employed to open and close a check valve 402, as well as to open andclose the poppet valve 326. The check valve 402 comprises a valve piston404 that is slidably mounted in a housing 406 secured to the upper endof the spouts body 302 over the vapor outlet 408, and biased towards itsclosed position (FIG. 9) by a spring 410. The piston 404 is raised intoits open position (FIG. 10) by the piston rod 412, to which it isconnected, when compressed air is inletted to the cylinder 400 throughair line 330 to open the valve 326. The piston 404 is drawn downwardlyinto its closed position when compressed air is admitted through airline 328 into the cylinder 400. Hence, in this embodiment the checkvalve 402 is assured of being open when the spouts fluid outlet valve326 is open, and closed when the valve 326 is closed.

Although the best mode contemplated for carrying out the presentinvention has been herein shown and described, it will be apparent thatmodification and variation may be made without departing from what isregarded to be the subject matter of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a vapor recovery fluid loading arm including a fluid deliveryconduit extending between fluid supply means and fluid dispensing means,and a vapor return conduit extending between said fluid dispensing meansand a vapor receiving means, the improvement comprising a fluidoutlet-vapor inlet assembly intermediate the fluid dispensing means andthe atmosphere, said assembly including a. a generally tubular bodyhaving inner and outer ends, said inner end connected to said fluiddispensing means, said body separated into a fluid passageway and avapor passageway by a generally longitudinal wall having a transverseweb portion forming a mounting for a valve operating means,

b. a valve seat formed in the outer end of the tubular body,

c. a valve closure element for cooperating with the valve seat to form abarrier preventing fluid from passing to the atmosphere from the fluidpassageway,

d. a valve operating means mounted on the web portion and connected tothe valve closure element, and

e. valve control means connected to the valve operating means forcontrolling actuation of said operat ing means from a remote location.

2. A vapor recovery-fluid loading arm according to claim 1 includingvapor valve means in the vapor passageway for preventing reverse flow ofvapor from the vapor return conduit into said vapor passageway, saidvapor valve means operably connected to the valve control means foroperation with the valve closure element.

3. A vapor recovery-fluid loading arm according to claim 1 includingfloat means in the vapor passageway of the tubular body, said floatmeans operably connected to a fluid flow control valve for closing saidvalve to prevent fluid flow through the fluid conduit.

llfl

6. An apparatus according to claim 5 wherein the actuating means for thevalve control means comprises a contact valve associated with andmovable with respect to the fluid dispensing means, said contact valvedisposed for movement in response to placing the fluid outlet-vaporinlet assembly into fluid delivery position in a receptacle.

1. In a vapor recovery fluid loading arm including a fluid deliveryconduit extending between fluid supply means and fluid dispensing means,and a vapor return conduit extending between said fluid dispensing meansand a vapor receiving means, the improvement comprising a fluidoutlet-vapor inlet assembly intermediate the fluid dispensing means andthe atmosphere, said assembly including a. a generally tubular bodyhaving inner and outer ends, said inner end connected to said fluiddispensing means, said body separated into a fluid passageway and avapor passageway by a generally longitudinal wall having a transverseweb portion forming a mounting for a valve operating means, b. a valveseat formed in the outer end of the tubular body, c. a valve closureelement for cooperating with the valve seat to form a barrier preventingfluid from passing to the atmosphere from the fluid passageway, d. avalve operating means mounted on the web portion and connected to thevalve closure element, and e. valve control means connected to the valveoperating means for controlling actuation of said operating Means from aremote location.
 2. A vapor recovery-fluid loading arm according toclaim 1 including vapor valve means in the vapor passageway forpreventing reverse flow of vapor from the vapor return conduit into saidvapor passageway, said vapor valve means operably connected to the valvecontrol means for operation with the valve closure element.
 3. A vaporrecovery-fluid loading arm according to claim 1 including float means inthe vapor passageway of the tubular body, said float means operablyconnected to a fluid flow control valve for closing said valve toprevent fluid flow through the fluid conduit.
 4. A vapor recovery-fluidloading arm according to claim 1 wherein the valve operating meanscomprises a fluid powered piston and cylinder assembly with a piston rodinterconnecting the piston and the valve closure element.
 5. A vaporrecovery-fluid loading arm according to claim 1 including means foractuating the valve control means in response to a position change ofthe assembly with respect to a fluid receiving means.
 6. An apparatusaccording to claim 5 wherein the actuating means for the valve controlmeans comprises a contact valve associated with and movable with respectto the fluid dispensing means, said contact valve disposed for movementin response to placing the fluid outlet-vapor inlet assembly into fluiddelivery position in a receptacle.